Do you see the image of a young actress on a balcony, longing for her forbidden suitor? You may have the wrong picture in your head.

The original stage performances of the classic held an all-male cast. No women allowed. Never mind the fact that Queen Elizabeth ruled England at the time of Shakespeare. Women weren’t even legally allowed on stage until 1660, and reports say the very first portrayal of Juliet was by a young actor named Master Robert Goffe.

The belief was that women couldn’t - or shouldn’t - play a role in live theater.

Flash forward three and a half centuries, the continuation of theater’s very existence lies in the hands of the group it once shunned.

That’s not an exaggeration when you find that it is primarily women who buy the tickets and go to the shows. Year after year, the statistics show around 69 percent of theater ticket buyers and 63 percent of audience members are female.

Yet in 2011, only 17 percent of plays produced nationwide were written by women, and only 16 percent were women-directed. Data shows the further from Broadway, the better the numbers are for women-produced and written material, but it is rarely higher than 30 percent.

The Civic Theater’s most recent production, “9 to 5: The Musical” – a show co-written by a woman but originally directed by a man – deals with the topics of gender discrimination and sexual harassment. It also offers an opportunity to delve deeper into the direction, development, and drama of women in live theater.

Here are perspectives on that topic from three women associated with the show:

Direction

When Penny Notter came to the Civic Theatre there was one woman, the business manager, on the administrative staff. There was no development program, no public relations position, and the education program was very small.

Director Penny NotterDianne Carroll Burdick

“Now that I think about it,” Notter said, “it was women who pushed those programs through and showed us how to grow. Women were creating the big changes at Civic. There was some resistance from the ‘good ole boys’ but we just kept going.”

Notter was a lucky child. Her mother loved theater and her father was an engineer for a railroad company. That combination led to free train trips to Chicago to catch high-quality shows. Once she saw live theater, Notter knew she wanted to live it but wasn’t immediately afforded the chance, with no community theater or school program in her small town in Indiana.

Notter eventually lived and performed in New York in the ‘70’s – right around the time of the women’s liberation movement.

“There was a lot happening in the streets,” she said. “I was there signing petitions, going to protests, marches and bra burnings.”

She returned to the Midwest, finished school, and started teaching in the ‘80s at an all-women college.

“That was the biggest lesson I could have ever learned about the power of women in theater,” she recalled. “It was all women, doing everything, being in charge of everything in and out of the classroom. It was incredibly freeing.”

Notter said she was “very well received” when she came to Grand Rapids and worked in three major theaters – Circle, Actors’, and Civic.

“There weren’t very many women working behind the scenes at first,” Notter remembers. “But that has changed and I think it is due to training. The women that are directing in the city now have had training. Plus, I think community theaters look more at training and experience over gender. It’s very exciting at this level because we don’t talk about gender issues, we’re so busy and it’s already a good place for a woman to be.

“I’m not saying that I never felt slighted. And there’s no question that it is still dominated by males, especially when you get to New York. I mean, you’ve got Julie Taymor (The Lion King) and Susan Stroman (The Producers) and who else is there? But as we keep training them, that is going to change.”

Notter, who has been at the Civic for 27 years,is currently directing “9 to 5: The Musical.”

Development

There’s a printed poster of “Rosie the Riveter” – a commonly used symbol of feminism – on the door of Nancy Brozek’s office. After speaking with the Civic’s director of development and community relations, one surmises that she likes the poster’s “We Can Do It” action slogan over its gender-political meaning … but not entirely.

“I remember being in a meeting while working in a for-profit company and realizing I was the only woman in the room,” Brozek said. “When I remarked that I was ‘outnumbered’, the head of Human Resources said, ‘Actually, when you are in the room, we’re outnumbered.’ He may have been right. If I’m at the table, I’m going to be heard. I’m going to let my value show.”

Civic Theatre Director of Development and Community Relations Nancy Brozek hands out calendars with details about upcoming productions.Sally Finneran

Her value to the non-profit theater is exemplified as she builds solid partnerships with other organizations and businesses in the community to help develop and support the theater’s product and programs.

“Male or female, it does take a nurturing and caring individual to have success at this because it’s a lot of work,” she said. “But the payoff is worth it.”

The disparity between the number of female and male administrators actually flipped for Brozek when she entered the nonprofit world.

“Women are doing a lot of the non-profit work so it isn’t rare to work around many of them.”

“The biggest challenge from an administrative side isn’t the divide between men and women, but the divide between profit and non-profit,” she added. “There are some people who still have the mindset that non-profits are lighter, fluffier, less-serious work.”

Many non-profits evolved from volunteer organizations, which may have consisted of women who had the time to donate their talents and those who found their power to make a difference through social change, Brozek said.

“But Penny was right,” she added. “We have work to do and we’re able to focus on those tasks without care for gender, religion, etc.”

Drama

Jenny Fischer is playing the role of Doralee in “9 to 5: The Musical ” – a role originally made famous by Dolly Parton. Fischer, 32, has been acting for 21 years and also spent some time in New York chasing the Broadway lights.

But she was faced with a decision that is not uncommon in her profession – family or fame?

“I lived in New York for six years,” she said. “It was amazing and I miss it. But I started a family, and gave up pursuing my dream, to be a mother. They became more important and while I think it is stereotypical for the woman to stay home with the kids, it made more sense for me.

“There is a bit of day dreaming and wondering what could have been,” she added. “My new goal is go back there after my kids grow up and move out. But moving back home gives me the support system I need to still be part of theater and remain active in the craft. Some Moms lock themselves in the bathroom for a few hours for a break. I’m lucky enough to get to go pretend to be somebody else.”

She includes Notter in the list of women she considers a mentor. Her mother, Val, is the stage manager for the show.

Fischer admits that some are able to follow their career regardless of whether they have children or not.

“Everyone’s scenario is different,” she concluded. “It’s hard to put a blanket statement over it.”

Fischer said she is privileged to see more women in positions of power.

“I wasn’t even born when this movie came out and an entire women’ rights movement has happened. My present company has many women in higher positions but the highest still belong to men. There’s still growth that can happen.”

With decades of experience, each of these women has a unique perspective on the role of women in live theater. A common thread between each of them is their love of educational opportunities and training that showed them the full picture of what the profession offers and how those options can change its future.

But like most true decisions, it comes down to the individual.

“The tone of the movie and its message to women 30 years ago is the same message I would like to send today,” Notter concluded. “Women have been empowered to do whatever we want. The only people that can stop that is ourselves. It’s about women making decisions on what they want their life to be.”